Waiting
by spockandawe
Summary: Lin thinks that her messy breakup with Tenzin had driven away all their old mutual friends, but Bumi shows up at her house one night.


Lin rolled over in bed without opening her eyes, turning to rest her forehead against the chest of the man next to her. It was so strange, the differences between these brothers. She'd known and played with them both since they were small, but after a certain point she'd had eyes for nothing but Tenzin. Bumi had flirted here and there, but she knew it was never anything serious. He flirted with all the girls and she was satisfied with knowing she wasn't counted as just one of the boys. But Tenzin... that had been a game she wanted badly to win. He was a challenge. He had been so serious ever since she could remember, and her favorite thing to do on slow summer days was find new ways to make him blush.

Things had moved forward, as things did, and Lin was never really sure when it stopping being just for fun and when she decided she really wanted to catch him. They had been a study in opposites, but he completely captivated her. She had more in common with his older siblings; the three of them would run around outside getting lost and filthy when Tenzin would rather sit alone inside with a scroll. But when she came in with new scrapes and bruises he'd set the scroll aside and listen to all the stories she brought back. The two of them were so different, but she'd always felt like they meshed perfectly and filled the spaces in each other they never knew were empty.

It was a horrible shock when she realized it had fallen apart. She hadn't even realized that he was truly unhappy until he took her aside and told her he was leaving. There was fury, of course, at the betrayal. Hatred of the woman who had destroyed the bond that they shared. Humiliation. Self-doubt. And he was so matter-of-fact about it. He never acted like he felt the loss, which only made her feel more miserable in comparison, and she took it out on everyone around her. Especially Tenzin. Even a year later, her cheeks burned red when she thought about the way she'd behaved.

After that first rush of anger had dulled, she felt an awful sense of isolation. All their mutual friends had seen what happened, and especially how she had reacted. There was a distance between them that she couldn't see how to close. Even for her oldest friends, Kya and Bumi, she felt like the gap would be impossible to bridge. Kya had been at the South Pole and Bumi had been away with the fleet, so neither had been a personal witness, but Tenzin had gone to visit them both and had surely told them about the upheaval in his life. Her gut knotted when she thought of what they must think. Kya was such a sweet woman and Bumi didn't have a cruel bone in his body. Even apart from how she had behaved, she wouldn't even get to tell them her side of the story. She'd be lucky if they ever treated her as a friend again.

With all this in mind, it was a complete surprise years later when Bumi knocked on her door in the middle of the night. She stammered and stuttered as he slipped into her house, but he acted as free and easy with her as when they were children. She couldn't help smiling and felt the years apart melt away. He'd gotten into town, but it was too late at night to catch a ferry to Air Temple Island, and he hoped he might be able to stay the night. His grin was infectious, and she found herself lighting more candles and pouring tea as they sat on cushions around a table and caught up on their time apart.

He laughed and teased her about how her job as police chief consumed her life, and she retorted that at least she didn't have to spend months stranded in the middle of the ocean. She'd forgotten how much she enjoyed his company, and as the night wore on her cheeks began to hurt from smiling so much for so long. Finally, long after midnight, they were both yawning too hard to put off sleep. She walked him to the only bedroom and made sure he was settled, then turned to go sleep on the couch. But he sprawled on the bed with his arms spread wide to her, teasing her outrageously until she finally agreed that the bed was large enough for two people.

That night, nothing more had happened. They fell asleep with her tucked away in his arms and she felt more content than she had in years. As the days wore on, he made excuse after excuse about why he couldn't move to the island yet, and she was perfectly willing to accept them. Tenzin gave Lin suspicious looks, but she refused to acknowledge that anything strange was going on. But alone with Bumi in the evenings she was able to laugh to her heart's content and she found herself wishing for something she couldn't articulate. After only a few days, she found herself pinning him to the floor, kissing him passionately as he smiled against her mouth. That night they didn't even make it to the bed.

Whenever he came after that, he stayed with her. Sometimes she'd get back from a long day of work only to find that he picked the lock and cooked her an extravagant meal, and other times he'd hunt her down while she was on the job. Half the time, he didn't even tell his brother about his visits and he and Lin could stay up until the early hours talking and laughing in each other's company. His work as a naval officer sometimes kept him away for painfully long stretches, but when he could come every second of his visit was filled with exhilarating passion and cheerfulness. As unhappy as she had been before, Lin found it in her heart to even silently thank Pema for taking away Tenzin. This man had been worth waiting for.


End file.
